" Arthur! " The shrill ginger witch bellowed from the kitchen counter, clutching a copy of the 'Daily Prophet' in her left hand. "Get down here!"

The rat moved a little closer to Molly Weasley, parking himself right under the table and out of sight.

A few seconds later a tall, lanky middle-aged man appeared in the kitchen.

"What is it dear?" Arthur Weasley replied, tightening the knot on his shabby tie.

She said nothing and handed him the paper. "How do you think this happened?" Arthur replied, fear in his voice.

The rat was paying full-attention now, waiting for someone to tell him what was going on.

"The Prophet speculates that Lestrange led a group of dark wizards to free her cousin."

It took the rat a minute to realize what they were talking about, and he smiled internally, before deciding on a course of action.

Five minutes later Peter Pettigrew was at the edge of the Burrow's property line. Turning into a human once again, he disappeared with a light pop.

Harry sat alone in the common room, ignoring the jealous stares and frightened murmurs directed his way.

That morning's announcement in the Prophet - speculating that Bellatrix Lestrange had orchestrated a deadly breakout at Azkaban to free his godfather, had most of Hogwarts speculating that Black was on the way to kill him, and that Harry's mere presence at the school was inviting danger.

He didn't even know he had a godfather. 'Why didn't anyone tell me about Sirius Black? Why did I have to learn from the Daily Prophet?' His anger continued to simmer as he failed to focus on his herbology essay.

His parents had been betrayed, according to the Daily Prophet, by his father's best friend! The story described how brave Peter Pettigrew had confronted the insane, dark wizard. Only to be killed (along with 12 muggles) by his former friend.

The whole story had spread through Hogwarts like wildfire. And by dinner the whispers had started.

He could have handled the jealous stares on their own, easily enough. 'Let them believe I got special treatment' he thought to himself. 'They don't know how hard I've worked.'

Upon learning a few days ago that he had been placed in third year charms and transfiguration, Anthony Goldstein, and surprisingly, Padma Patil had begun telling anyone who would listen that he thought he was better than everyone else just because he used his fame to get put into third year classes.

Terry had found the whole thing hilarious.

And his friend was probably right. If he had only been dealing with the jealous idiots he probably would have laughed the thing off.

But it was the vicious bullying that made him the angriest. He thought as he watched Goldstein loudly talk about the curse of Harry Potter to some scared-looking first-years.

"… just avoid Potter." Goldstein said to a nervous looking first year, pointing him out in the process. "Spend too much time near him, and you might end up dead!" The girl jumped in fright before Goldstein tried to soothe her. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

The girl nodded her head appreciatively, as Michael Corner stood by quietly.

Not even a year ago Corner had stood up for him in the wake of Hermione's death. Now, it seemed, that he had turned on him as well.

Packing his things up, Harry raced to his dorm before the tears came.

His brother's establishment was practically empty, Albus noticed as he took a seat across from his potions master.

"Albus." Severus greeted.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Severus."

The younger man nodded in response, as Albus Dumbledore placed several privacy spells around the table.

"So, Severus. What have you gathered about last month's breakout?"

The potions master frowned slightly.

"Bellatrix Lestrange organized the attack."

"I'd gathered that much, Severus. What I want to know is who else took part."

The man took a sip of his tea, he could almost see the indecision on Snape's face. Dumbledore sighed and not for the first time he wondered if it was wise to trust the slippery spy. Still, he was his best source of information, and he couldn't afford to be unaware of Death Eater activities.

"Bellatrix, Marcel DuPont, Eric Travers, Thomas Rawles, and Jedediah Parkinson were the main perpetrators."

Albus nodded, 'that would explain the inferi.' Very few people had the ability to control many inferi with any effectiveness.

"How did Bellatrix convince Marcel DuPont to help her?"

The French wizard wasn't the generous sort, he would want some sort of payment for his services.

"I am uncertain, but it is my belief that she offered him a way to end his exile."

Albus stroked his beard in thought. "I believe the death of Caroline LaPointe was far less natural than I first thought."

Severus nodded, "Dragon Lung is an airborne disease. If someone were able to obtain a vial of it and release it in her home, it is perfectly reasonable to assume she would contract the disease. But I don't see how her death benefits him."

Severus Snape had always been less politically inclined than himself, still he was somewhat surprised that the man hadn't seen the obvious.

"His nephew, Francis was her second in command. With her gone, he is serving out the rest of her term."

"But how does that benefit the necromancer? The two aren't exactly close. Didn't Marcel kill the man's father?"

He sighed, for all his talents, Severus was incredibly inept in certain areas. "Marcel is suspected of killing his younger brother, yes. But from what I've gathered Francis was not overly upset about the loss. He lived with Marcel until he reached his majority. I believe that with Francis in power, Marcel has been able to end his exile."

The potions master nodded his head. "I admit, I don't understand why Bellatrix attacked when she did." He said with a slight frown.

"I believe Bellatrix assumed Voldemort would be successful in his return and planned the attack as a surprise for him."

Snape just nodded his head in acceptance.

"How did Lucius take Quirrell's failure." The headmaster desperately needed to know the man's response to the defeat; 'did he still believe that Voldemort would return?'

Snape tapped his fingers on the table in thought. "Lucius was… disappointed. I don't think he considered that his plan might fail."

"Disappointed?" He answered with a hint of curiosity.

"Yes." The other man responded. "But he told me to hold on to the ingredients I acquired last year."

"So, Voldemort must have made more horcruxes." He said more to himself than to Severus.

Coming to a quick decision, he looked Snape in the eyes. "I want you to maintain your closeness with Lucius, and report anything of interest to me."

The shadows of a frown began to take shape on the potion's professors face, before disappearing a half-second later. "Of course."

"I'm going to continue to research possible horcruxes."

Severus nodded again and finished his tea before excusing himself.

Remembering where he was, Albus dispelled the privacy charms and made his way to the bar.

"Aberforth! How have you been?"

Despite Davies warning, the housemates hadn't stopped looking at him in fear. Goldstein had managed to convince his dorm mates to distance themselves from him, they wouldn't want to be seen being friendly with him, Goldstein had said, it wouldn't be safe to be friends with someone who was being hunted by Sirius Black.

Grabbing his invisibility cloak, Harry silently made his way through the common room before slipping out.

Fifteen minutes later found him in the dungeons; 'maybe Lily is around?' He thought, making his way towards the Slytherin common room.

While most of the school had gone out of their way to avoiding him, the black-haired Slytherin either didn't care, or hadn't seemed to notice that he had become somewhat of an outcast.

He smiled. She had cornered him after the first potions class and demanded that he continue to tutor him in charms and transfiguration. The sense of normalcy had helped him stay sane.

He stopped, taking in an interesting portrait he had never noticed before.

A dark-haired man was sitting on a dusty road, playing his pungi as a large, green snake with yellow eyes began to sway to the hypnotic tune. The snake charmer seemed to stare through his cloak, smirking at him for a second as Harry stared transfixed at the swaying snake.

As the music continued to play, the world around him disappeared, it was just him, the man, and the snake, still swaying to the beat. Without thinking, Harry heard himself hiss.

To his surprise, the portrait faded away, revealing a small, wooden door. He hesitantly reached out and twisted the doorknob.

Stepping through the door, torches lit up automatically. The small room was impossibly clean. In the front of the room sat a small desk, behind it was a slightly larger bookcase, filled with books and bound scrolls of parchment.

' What is this place?' He thought, making his way to the desk, he noticed several locked drawers, and frowned.

Turning his attention to the bookcase, he picked up a thick, untitled book, and the scroll of parchment sitting next to it, and opened it to the table of contents.

' A book on cursed objects?' He thought to himself, delighted to find a book on a topic he knew nothing about. Setting the book aside for a moment, he opened the accompanying scroll of parchment.

" Chapter One, Notes." He read the tidy handwriting. "Placing a curse on an object follows the same principals as enchanting an object.."

Opening the book to the first chapter, he began to read.

The pair worked silently. Lily working on her history essay, while Harry was working on enchanting his wooden block.

He'd made significant progress since he'd found the secret room a week ago. After he had read a few chapters on cursed objects, he had been able to find a nice book that went into greater detail on enchantments. It wasn't just pushing a stream of magic into an object, to successfully cast an enchantment, you also needed to visualize the permanence.

Picking up his wand, he shut his eyes. He visualized making the block glow permanently, about an older Harry picking up the bright blue block. He took a calming breath and tapped the block with his wand; he felt his magic course through him as his block began to glow. Only time would tell if he had been successful.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked, staring at the glowing block in interest.

"I'm trying to enchant this wooden block to glow." He replied.

"Enchanting? When did you learn how to enchant?" Her blue eyes bore into his. There was something satisfying about impressing her.

He frowned slightly. "I don't really know how to enchant. But Professor Flitwick went over the theory with me this summer, and I've been practicing ever since."

Lily nodded. "How far ahead are you?"

He thought for a second. "I just started practicing inanimate to animate transfiguration, I'm about mid-way through third year charms as well." He said, pleased with himself. "And I would be ahead in defense as well, if we were actually learning defense."

Lily let out a groan. "Lockhart is a menace! Does he honestly think anyone gives a shit about his books?"

Harry laughed. "You mean you don't want to hear about how he single-handedly defeated a Yeti, then was wined and dined by the Nepalese Minister of Magic?"

"I'd rather listen to Malfoy talk about his family." She deadpanned.

Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a defense book. "This is what we're supposed to cover for second year." He said, handing her the book. "I'm helping Terry with defense, you're more than welcome to join us."

She offered him a rare smile. "I'd like that."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while longer.

"Harry…" she said, the slightest bit of trepidation in her voice. "Are you worried?" she said before quickly adding; "I mean about Sirius Black? People seem to think he's going to try and kill you."

The truth is he was worried. Since the breakout he had been pushing himself to exhaustion, trying to prepare for a possible attempt on his life.

Dodging her question, he responded, "why aren't you avoiding me, like the others?"

She shrugged. "He's not after me, and you're too useful to avoid." She paused for a second; "why do you think Azkaban was attacked."

Harry wanted to tell her what he knew about Voldemort, he was dying to tell someone, anyone about the prophecy and how Dumbledore believed Voldemort would return. But he couldn't, he couldn't run the risk of losing one of two people in the school who would still speak to him.

"I don't know. But if I see Black, I'm going to kill him for what he did to my family." And he was serious. The first chance he got he would kill the man who destroyed his life.

She laughed softly. "You remind me of Daphne."

Harry raised an eyebrow and she continued. "She said the same thing about the Lestrange family."

Harry was confused. "Why does she want to kill the Lestrange's? I got the feeling that the Greengrass family were supportive of Voldemort."

She let out a shiver at Voldemort's name. "Like many pureblood families, the Greengrasses generally agreed with the Dark Lord's political agenda, but their family has a history with the Lestranges. If they supported him, Alfred and Victoria wouldn't."

"Come on. I need help turning this book into a candlestick." Lily said, changing the subject.

Harry sighed; he'd have to unravel that mystery later.

"Alright second years! We're only taking one of you!" Phillip Bigsby bellowed.

The four second years nodded.

"Yes sir!" Goldstein responded.

' Kiss ass.'

"The four of you are going to be put through some basic drills. The loser of each drill, will be eliminated."

From next to him Goldstein smirked.

"What are we doing, sir." Patil asked in curiosity.

Bigsby smiled. "The first drill will test your shielding and dodging. The four of you will stand in separate pits as the team fires at you, you get hit, you're eliminated. First person eliminated is out. You," he pointed at Corner, "pit number two with Powell. Goldstein you're with Edgecombe, Patil you go with Fenwick, Potter you're with me."

Harry smiled. He had been doing this all summer.

Bigsby opened with a barrage of stinging hexes. 'Guess he's not going to take it easy on me.'

Harry crouched and stepped to his right before rolling forward.

Coming out of his roll he had to fight the temptation to fire back, instead choosing to erect a protego to absorb the stunner sent his way.

He dodged again, narrowly avoiding a jelly legs jinx. 'Damn he's fast.' He thought, shielding against an aquamenti.

He lasted another thirty seconds before he felt his wand slip from his hand and the spells stopped.

"Great job, Harry." Bigsby smiled at him warmly.

From the side he noticed Goldstein give him a glare and Harry smirked. 'That'll shut him up.'

Bigsby gathered Harry, Patil, and Goldstein, moving them over to a firing range with 10 targets sitting 25 feet away, three of which were moving.

"This one's simple. Ten spells of your choice. Whoever hits the most wins, loser is eliminated. The tie goes to whoever used the largest variety of spells."

Padma began, opening with a stunner, her spell found the closest target with ease, lighting it green in the process. The followed up with a body bind, expelliarmus, jelly leg, and another stunner, hitting the next four with ease.

Taking a short break, she continued, missing the first moving target. She hit the other two stationary targets with ease, before hitting the vertical target narrowly. Lining up the last, moving, target she fired - her spell going wide right.

Padma smiled as Goldstein pushed his way forward. His spell work was decent enough, Harry thought as the boy dispersed of the first three targets using mostly first year spells.

He missed one of the stationary targets, to Harry's amusement, before dispersing of the three moving targets with ease, going nine out of ten.

Ignoring Patils worried face, Harry smirked. Shooting an aquapilatum, hitting the first moving target with ease. He lined up the next moving target, and with a muttered percutere the piercing curse erupted from his wand, lighting up the second moving target.

His stunner found the third moving target with ease, and he gave Goldstein a smirk, before hitting the next seven targets with ease.

The entire team was present as Harry bowed to Goldstein.

The final test was a duel.

Harry could barely contain his excitement as he dipped into his stance, opening with a quick jet of water, smacking Goldstein in his face.

The boy frowned, firing a stunner in return.

Harry dodged, following up with a stunner, a reducto, and sagitta in rapid succession.

Goldstein's eyes went wide as he shielded the stunner and reducto before diving out of the way of his arrow.

Taking a second to let Goldstein gather himself, Harry savored the feeling of finally being able to take revenge.

He stepped out of the way of the bone breaker and Harry raised an eyebrow; ' I didn't know he could cast that.' He returned fire with his own bone breaker, narrowly missing the boy's wand arm, before hitting him straight in the nose, transfiguring it into a pig's snout.

From the sidelines he heard laughter.

Goldstein glared hatefully at him, a snort escaping his nose.

He took a second to savor his victory before hitting the boy with an expelliarmus, officially ending the duel.

"Great spell work Harry!" Jerome Powell, a sixth year, patted him on his shoulder.

"Impressive technique, Harry, welcome to the team!" Bigsby spoke up.

He idly noticed Marietta Edgecombe glaring at him as Powell continued; "I loved your style."

Goldstein joined Edgecombe in glaring at him, but Harry didn't care. He'd made the team.

A light rain fell has she and Nymphadora turned up the sidewalk towards the entrance of Grimmauld Place. A look of disdain must have shown on her face, catching Nymphadora's attention.

"What is it, mother?" Her daughter, sporting black hair with dark blue highlights asked.

It had been more than twenty years since Andromeda Tonks had returned to her childhood home, and now she was returning to listen to the ravings of a madman. ' I must be going insane.'

"Nothing, Nymphadora. Please try and keep your wits about you. Sirius was a dangerous man before Azkaban, I can't imagine what a decade with the dementors has done to him."

' That out to piss her off.' She thought to herself with a smirk. The usage of her first name along with the implication that she wasn't a skilled enough witch to deal with what she presumed to be a magically damaged lunatic should be enough to keep her vigilant.

A moment later the pair were standing in the dimly lit parlor room of Grimmauld Place.

The house was just as depressingly dark as she remembered, although she had expected the place to be a tad dirtier.

"Kreacher!" Her cousin croaked, voice raspy from disuse.

To her surprise the unpleasant elf from her childhood was not only alive, but now glaring at the three of them intently.

"What does the traitors and disgusting half-bloods be wanting?"

' Interesting.' She thought. 'Maybe Kreacher doesn't know of Sirius's past?'

"Tea for three in the study."

Andromeda Tonks took in the man in front of her, trying to compare him to the man he knew a decade ago.

The two had never been close; Sirius was closer to Narcissa's age than her own. But in his youth he had been an athletically built young man with a sharp wit and handsome features.

A decade in prison had taken its toll.

His once handsome face drooped in malnourishment and mental anguish. Lively, dark eyes had been replaced empty, black orbs; and the lean muscle that once covered his tall body had all but disappeared.

The last Black was a pathetic looking figure.

"Thank you for coming Andromeda." His raspy voice spoke, the smallest measure of gratitude seemed to come through.

She felt herself began to relax. Luckily her daughter still had her wand above the table, pointed at her cousin.

Sirius seemed to notice her hostility, and as if he was just noticing her presence, addressed her for the first time. "Nymphadora?"

She scowled. "You can call me Tonks, Mr. Black."

The sickly man just nodded his head, and, in a gesture of good faith, set his wand on the table in front of them.

She relaxed, and with a look, her daughter lowered her wand. Though Andromeda had a sneaking suspicion Nymphadora was still pointing her wand at Sirius from beneath the table.

Deciding to move the conversation forward, she responded, "I got your note, Sirius. And I want you to know, that if I don't like what I hear, I will turn you in right now."

He just nodded, and in an instant his demeanor changed.

Sirius leaned forward, a crazed look in his eye, and a crooked, yellow smile on his face.

She tensed slightly.

"I didn't do it Andi!" He said in a boyish tone, adopting his childhood nickname for her.

His tone shifted slightly again. "It was the damn rat. That damn rat did it all, but it was my fault."

' He's not credible.' She thought to herself, the barrister in her coming out.

"Sirius!" She shouted. The escaped criminal snapped out of it and a sense of normalcy returned.

"Sorry about that… well, did you bring the veritaserum?" He pushed responded, moving the conversation forward a bit.

She nodded. "Do you have the pensieve?"

He nodded as she withdrew her wand, telling him to focus on the memories he had told her about.

A moment later the three of them were standing in an unfamiliar room.

A much younger Sirius paced the dimly lit room. Across from him a shorter man with brown hair and hazel eyes looked at him, an amused look on his face. Next to said man a pretty red head was holding a small child.

"The Potters." Nymphadora spoke from next to her.

"Wha - what happened?" Sirius spoke up, turning to face the other man.

James Potter took a calming breath, before exchanging a look with his wife.

" He led a strike on the Manor."

Sirius opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Potter.

"I don't know how he got in past the wards." James had apparently anticipated his friend's question, leaving Sirius to think for quietly for a moment.

"And the Manor?" Sirius questioned, hesitation in his voice.

"Fiendfyre." James Potter couldn't keep the tremble out of his voice, and Lily placed a comforting hand on his forearm, speaking up for the first time.

"It's all gone, Sirius." The beautiful woman responded.

Sirius steadied himself. "What are you going to do?"

Lily responded quickly. "The Fidelius Charm." We need you as our secret keeper.

Anger started to build up inside her. "Did you bring me here to confess your guilt, Sirius?"

"Just watch." Was his sad response.

"Lily, I - I can't be your secret keeper."

"Bullshit, Sirius." James responded. "You're the only one we can trust."

Sirius just shook his head. "And you can trust me. But the two of you, and Harry, are number one on Voldemort's kill list."

The trio exchanged a knowing look. ' That's interesting.' Andromeda thought to herself.

"And I'm number one on Bellatrix's list." The younger Sirius continued. "I don't think the two most wanted men in the country should have that sort of connection. If something were to happen to me…"

"Then you go under Fidelius too!" Lily responded. "I can cast it for both of us, James can be your secret keeper."

James nodded; Sirius pondered. "No. No it can't be me. There's been too many close calls lately. I'll go under fidelius if it comes to that, but the Death Eaters need a visible target to focus on. I'll be that distraction."

The conversation continued like that for a few minutes before James caved.

"Fine." James responded. "If not you, then who?"

Sirius thought for a second; "Peter."

James and Lily exchanged a look. "Peter Pettigrew will be our secret keeper." Lily responded a second later.

"Take it!" A distraught Sirius said, pushing a motorbike towards the half-giant in front of him.

"Make sure Harry gets to Dumbledore safely. I'll be by in a couple of days, there's something I need to do first."

"Are you sure, S'rius?" Rubeus Hagrid responded.

"Of course! I'll pick it up in a few days."

A moment later the three of them were in the parking lot of a petrol station. A much younger Sirius was shouting at a small, pudgy man.

"Peter Pettigrew." She mumbled to herself.

"Peter!" Sirius yelled out, drawing the attention of several muggles, and the smaller man.

"How could you, Sirius!" The shorter man shouted out.

Confusion, then anger flashed across the younger Sirius's face. The older Sirius next to her had his head in his hands, refusing to watch the scene.

"How could you betray Lily and James?!" Pettigrew responded as a loud explosion rang out across the parking lot, screams of terror could be heard as flames overtook most of the area.

The younger Sirius was launched through the air and across the street, landing with a loud thud he began to laugh.

The chilling laughter continued to build till it was more than a little maniacal and be the time the auror's arrived a few minutes later, the only magical presence around was an insane Sirius Black.

The memories ended, leaving the three of them alone in the study. Next to her Nymphadora's hair was rapidly changing through a variety of colors, signifying her own array of changing emotions.

Andromeda collected herself, reaching into her pocket to grab a small vial.

"Your tongue, Sirius." She said, responding in a much nicer tone than before.

For the first time she caught a shimmer of relief in her cousins' eyes, as a tear fell from his eye.

"Your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black;" was his response.

"Did you betray the Potter family to the Dark Lord?"

"No."

"Are you guilty of any of the crimes you have been accused of?"

"No."

"Have you ever been a Death Eater?"

"No."

"Who betrayed the Potter's to the Dark Lord?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Who killed those muggles on November 1st, 1981?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"To the best of your knowledge is Peter Pettigrew still alive?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea how he escaped prosecution for the events of 11/1/1981?"

"I don't know. But he is a rat animagus."

She frowned; ' we can go over details later.'

She administered the antidote.

"I'll take your case, Sirius."

He smiled, and she gave him a hug.

"What charges were you brought up on, do you remember?"

He gave her an angry look. "I was held under the Parkinson Amendment. I was never charged with a crime."

To his surprise she laughed.

"What's so funny?" He asked her angrily.

"It means clearing your name just became easier, cousin."

"It feels good to be outside!" The brown-haired boy said, extending his arms outwards and twirling, Harry did his best to keep from laughing as Terry's glasses fell off his face, falling into the grass near his feet.

Zabini didn't bother to control his laughter, as the normally quiet boy let out a snort; "settle down, Boot." The dark-skinned boy said, offering a rare smile; "there's no need to act like a Gryffindor."

From besides Zabini, Lily laughed.

It did feel good to be outside. The four of them had spent the first Saturday in October revising for next week's midterms, mother nature had rewarded them with a beautiful Sunday morning.

Lily silently handed him a pillowcase; an expectant looks on her face.

He smiled, quickly transfiguring it into a large blanket, lying it on the shoreline. His smile turned to a smirk as he removed several quills, quickly transfiguring them into four, basic lawn chairs.

Lily offered him an approving nod. "You've improved on your inanimate to larger inanimate transfiguration. How is your inanimate to animate transfiguration coming?"

To answer her question, he pulled out his 'transfiguration block' as he liked to call it, stealing the idea from Tom Riddle's notes on transfiguration.

The boy's notes and the accompanying book collection had quickly become his most valuable resource.

Muttering to himself he made three quick motions with his wand, eliminating the unnecessary half-oval at the beginning.

The he noticed Zabini watch in awe as the block of wood transformed into a perfectly animate Guinea Pig.

While Zabini seemed impressed, and Terry, having seen this before, looked bored; Lily gave him an approving look.

"Impressive." She leaned against the trunk of the tree; "what do you want to do with transfiguration? You've never told me why you like the subject."

He pondered his reply for a second. Growing up surrounded by things yet having nothing of his own had helped harvest a petty desire to have nice possessions. Having the ability to create his own fascinated him. There were also the dueling possibilities.

Deciding to go with the later, he looked around at the group. The other three were giving him their full attention.

"Transfiguration is the precursor to conjuration. Both can be used in a duel, or one of those brawling tournaments."

Brawling tournaments. Ever since Powell had explained the four-dueler battles duelers could participate in on the professional circuit, Harry had been obsessed with the idea of a wide-open fight.

Part duel, part obstacle course, part treasure hunt. Duelers were given free reign of a large area. The pit generally contained natural impediments, and sometimes creatures in, an attempt to eliminate their competitors and collect certain items from around the pit.

"You sound like Daphne." Zabini responded, as Lily laughed.

"Why does everyone always say that?"

"You're both obsessed with dueling, and you both scare people." Terry responded.

His reply was cut off by Lily, who for once seemed to be taking pity on him.

"How's the enchanting, Harry?"

He realized he now had an uncomfortable amount of attention coming his way from Zabini.

' Maybe she's not taking pity on me.'

The Italian boy leaned in closer, staring him in the eyes, he thought he felt something in his mind for a second, and looked away.

' Occlumency… occlumency and warding, that's what I'll study this afternoon.'

A few days earlier he had found a small book on something called mind magic and immediately dove into the subject with curiosity.

The description of what legilimency felt like had reminded him of both Snape, and Dumbledore… ' and Quirrell.' He reminded himself; and now he had felt it again from Zabini.

' How common was legilimency?'

"Enchanting is going okay." He said casually, removing a glowing, blue block from his bag.

"The 'Bones' method?" Zabini replied curiously. "How long have you managed so far?"

"This one has lasted almost a month, so far." He responded with pride. "Are you interested in enchanting, Blaise?"

The boy nodded his head. "My mom is an enchantress." Blaise responded, shooting Terry a quick glare as he rolled his eyes.

"She began teaching me over the summer."

"What's your best time?" Harry asked. ' I wonder if I'm better.'

The attractive boy shook his head. "I'm using the Dolohov method."

Lily shot Blaise a glare and elbowed him.

" That's interesting." Terry replied. "How do you manage the power for that particular method." He let the question hang in the air.

There were several ways to learn any discipline. There was the steady way taught at Hogwarts, where students slowly developed their magic over years.

Then there was the quick way, using brute force and strength to try and get some semblance of the discipline right as quick as possible, only taking time to refine it after the fact.

The later method was exhausting and could only really be harnessed after a young witch or wizard had spent several years growing their magic.

Blaise gave Lily a slightly nervous look. "I did a couple of rituals over the summer with my mum."

Terry gave him an amused look; "rituals to permanently increase your magical strength are illegal, Zabini."

The black boy glared back at the brunette; "not in Italy, Terry. And you're one to talk."

' I wonder what that means?'

"Besides. They're not a massive boost, and you still need to learn what you're doing. They shouldn't be illegal anyhow."

' Occlumency and rituals. Warding can wait.'

Terry just smiled. "The Boot family would never engage in illegal activities."

"Speaking of Dolohov." Lily started calling attention to herself. "He was spotted in Knockturn Alley the other day."

"What do you think they're up to?" Terry turned to him for the answer, but Blaise beat him to it.

"I'd bet that Lestrange, and Black are planning something. No doubt Dolohov is involved."

Lily just frowned. "He's a psychopath."

And he was, Harry thought. Professor Nott had begun covering the war with Voldemort, and Antonin Dolohov was known as one of his most vicious followers.

"Bellatrix Lestrange is definitely planning something." Terry agreed. "But I'm not so sure on Black. Less is known on him." Terry shot him an apologetic look. But he shoved it off, deciding to reply.

' Maybe they know something I don't?' He had learned nothing about his godfather other than the fact that he was a Gryffindor and his father's best friend.

"What do you mean."

" Well… nothing is really known about how he became a Death Eater." Harry nodded, urging him to continue.

"What we do know is that almost everyone in his family supported some sort of dark lord in their lives. But in the last war, their seemed to be two exceptions. Andromeda Black and Sirius Black.

Andromeda was publicly disowned from her family for marrying a muggleborn, and Sirius Black was an auror who's best friends' family fought prominently against the Dark Lord."

"Yes, but he was a spy who showed his true colors when he betrayed my parents." He countered. "Only the secret keeper could betray them."

"True." Terry responded. "But no transcript of his questioning was ever released. Minister Bagnold and Tiberius Ogden threw him in jail citing the 'Parkinson Amendment.' So, we'll never find out what actually happened."

Harry was shocked as the conversation drifted in more mundane directions.

' What the hell is the Parkinson Amendment?'

"… and that leads us to Bellatrix Lestrange." It was the second Friday in October and all that separated the second year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors from the weekend was History of Magic.

They'd been studying the war with Voldemort for the last week, and as much as Harry hated to admit it, the old curmudgeon was well-versed in the subject.

"Can any of you tell me why she was important?" The ancient wizard spat out from behind his hooked nose, glaring around the room, Professor Nott's eyes settled on the hand of Su Li.

"She was he-who-must-not-be-named's most infamous general." The Asian girl replied with certainty.

"That's who she is, Miss Li, not why she was important."

Nott looked around the room again before surprisingly settling on Neville Longbottom, of all people.

"Bellatrix Lestrange was born a Black, Professor." The pudgy Gryffindor began. "The Blacks have a hereditary seat on the Wizengamot."

At the professors urging, Longbottom seemed to gain confidence and continued.

"Her grandfather, Pollux, led the opposition to all sorts of legislation designed to outlaw certain rituals, artifacts and types of magic. Many of which he-who-must-not-be-named used on his rise to power.

Bellatrix Black was a prodigy. Smart, charismatic, and sadistic." Longbottom spat out the last part. A quick look of understanding crossed the professors face, but Longbottom continued.

' What was that about?'

"Rumor is she was trained personally by Ophelia Greengrass." Professor Nott nodded again.

' Maybe that's why Greengrass doesn't like the Lestranges?' He frowned, that didn't make much sense though.

"Bellatrix Lestrange was indeed trained by a member of Grindelwald's inner circle." The professor replied.

"Her recruitment to the Dark Lord's cause gave the Dark Lord a young leader that could lead battles without his presence. For the first time in the war, the Dark Lord could lead a contingent at one location, while Bellatrix Lestrange could lead a simultaneous attack."

The old man paused at this to take a sip of water.

"Her attack on Diagon Alley is what convinced Minister Bagnold and former Chief of the Wizengamot Tiberius Ogden to declare a state of emergency. What is the significance of that, Mr. Goldstein?"

The professor snapped, startling the boy.

"Umm - I - I don't know professor." Goldstein stammered, causing Harry to grin.

" Worthless child." Professor Nott muttered, causing Harry's grin to become a full-fledged smile.

"A state of emergency, Mr. Goldstein," the professor continued, "allowed the auror's, and citizens, to defend themselves with lethal spells. It also triggered the ' Parkinson Amendment.'"

The professor had all his attention now, remembering the conversation near the lake last week.

"The Parkinson Amendment allows the government to hold suspected enemies of the state indefinitely without charges, or a trial." Professor Nott spat in disgust. "It's a disgusting violation of any witch or wizards' rights."

The bell chose that moment to ring.

"I want two feet on the Ministry of Magic's usage of emergency powers through the last century on my desk Monday!" The surly professor shouted at the emptying classroom.

" Preforo!" Potter says calmly, hopping away from Bones' stunner with ease.

Daphne had been anticipating this fight since she disposed of the Hufflepuff a few minutes prior. The ease of which Potter had disposed of Weasley had been disappointing.

She analyzed his dueling stance; wand held by his ear ready to strike like a cobra; stance narrowed and shoulders square, he put most of his weight on his front foot, prepared to lunge forward with ease.

The style was very distinct. 'What'd that bitch tell him?' She frowned. Lily's infatuation with the boy had grown from interesting little pet project to an increasingly close friendship.

Potter dodged again, unleashing several bombarda's, a reductor, and a punching hex.

Bones' shield cracked under the impressive reductor as the snooty puff was knocked over by the punching hex.

' Dumb move, Potter.' She thought to herself as Potter failed to finish the girl allowing her to get to her feet.

Bones returned with several spells of her own, as Potter dodged again.

' He's toying with her.' She grinned.

She watched for a few seconds longer before she noticed his movements; ' left, crouch, step forward, exit crouch, back step, right, left, crouch, step forward, exit crouch, back step..'

Bones seemed to notice the pattern as well and began firing in anticipation, hitting Potter with a tripping jinx - the boy stumbled forward.

Composing himself, a began firing a rapid barrage of stunners.

' At least he can cast quickly enough.' A vicious smile crossed her features and one of Potter's stunners finally caught Bones in the chest.

A pleasant shiver of anticipation went through her as she curtsied to the raven-haired boy.

Daphne schooled her features, dipping into an identical stance as her foe she saw confusing come across his face for a second before she caught him smiling dangerously at her.

' This is going to be fun.'

They both fired simultaneously.

She pirouetted ungracefully, avoiding his reductor.

' Damn growth spurt.' She thought, returning fire again with a combination of piercing curses and impedimenta's.

Potter dodged the trio of spells with ease. Returning with a bone breaker and incendio.

Another shiver passed through her, a genuine small gracing her face, even as she watched the fire hit her robes.

"Fire proofing charms, Potter!" She taunted. "Lily said you weren't an amateur." She continued, allowing a bit of condescension to creep into her voice. "You should know better."

She could see the anger in his eyes as he unleashed a torrent of bone breakers at her.

Daphne dodged again; 'there we go.' She smiled.

Potter was fighting to win.

Deciding to test her theory she began sending a variety of low-level jinxes at her opponent.

' Left, crouch, step forward, exit crouch, back step, right, left, crouch, step forward, exit crouch, back step..'

She smiled. 'Same pattern.'

She changed her pattern up, catching him with a piercing curse.

She heard the stunned reactions from the crowd as a trickle of red escaped from Potter's left-shoulder.

' Nothing illegal about our spells. Fools.' She thought.

Potter grimaced but returned fire.

A smile formed on her lips as she continued to send spells to the left of the boy, forcing him closer and closer to the edge of the circle.

Potter seemed to notice her strategy and responded in desperation.

" Sagitta, Cannoventus, Aquapilatum" He yelled.

She dodged the arrow as a layer of black smoke encompassed the dueling pit, her eyes widened as a large ball of water erupted from the smoke.

" Contego!" She shouted, praying the advanced shield would work.

To her delight the shield held. She took a second to reposition herself, before shooting out a gust of wind followed by several stunners.

An array of light came from her right, and she continued with her previous strategy, exhausted from the strenuous duel.

Potter's spells were coming less frequently now, and with a lot less power.

' Time to finish this.'

The smoke having been cleared; she saw a bleeding Potter in the same position he was ten seconds ago.

Her stunners seemed to snap him out of his daze as he stepped forward then hopped left to avoid her piercing curse, and right out of the dueler's circle.

"Victory, Slytherin." The referee called out.

She smiled triumphantly.

Cocking her chin in victory she offered her opponent her hand.

"Not bad, Potter." She said with superiority, then hesitated slightly. "There's a pattern to your movements, it makes you easy to predict."

The boy frowned. "Thanks, Greengrass." Then he offered her a roguish smile that looked slightly out of place on his face. "I look forward to the rubber match at the end of the year."

She stared blankly for a second, digesting his words, before giving him her most haughty response.

"You're assuming you'll beat me in March, Potter."

And with that, Daphne Greengrass turned on her heel, and walked away.

' Maybe Lily was right about him after all.'

Harry was sitting in the room he'd found, the dueling book by Greengrass's relative that he had received from Terry the Christmas prior opened in front of him.

He hadn't realized how similar his dueling strategy and Greengrass's had been until the previous weekends duel.

Harry had watched Greengrass at dueling club during first year. At the time he hadn't noticed the similarities in their style. But on the platform, it became all too apparent as the blonde girl danced around her circle.

The previous year the girl hadn't been nearly as nimble - but puberty had found Greengrass, having thinned out significantly, she now stood taller than him.

He rubbed his left shoulder subconsciously where her piercing curse had hit him. It had hurt more than any spell he had ever been hit with. His summer duels with Filius had him dodging low-level jinxes and hexes - rarely was he dodging anything that could cause him actual pain.

Her taunts had pissed him off, causing him to lose his cool.

Still, despite the loss the duel had been the most exhilarating thing he had ever taken part in. He meant it when he told her he'd win the rubber match.

Pushing his dueling book aside, he grabbed a book on rituals from behind him.

There was no shortage of books on rituals in the room - Tom Riddle had been particularly fascinated with the brand of magic.

He'd initially sought out after Blaise's admission that day by the lake.

His initial reaction had been disappointment. The ritual Zabini had undertook, the 'Ritual of Josephine,' was beyond his comprehension. Thankfully, Riddle had run into the same issue.

Having discovered the 'Ritual of Josephine' I was loath to admit that the ritual is beyond my current abilities; containing several runes that are beyond even my understanding.

Professor Slughorn was kind enough to lend me several books on rituals to help me prepare for the 'Ritual of Josephine,' and has promised to supervise any rituals I decide to undertake. He has also suggested I meet with Professor Brookings to discuss any runes I do not understand.

Harry flipped through the book on introductory rituals, pausing at a ritual that would temporarily increase his magical strength.

He smiled; he recognized these runes from the fourth-year runes book. His eyes then caught the still-locked, top left drawer of the desk and frowned. He still didn't know how to unravel the wards on the drawer.

He sighed. 'So much to do.'

Andromeda Tonks stared at the other occupants of the room. It was early December, and a bound Sirius sat calmly next to her.

Today was the day they had been preparing for.

"Good afternoon Madam Bones, Chief Warlock Dumbledore." She began politely.

"Mrs. Tonks." Was Amelia's curt reply as she eyed the restrained man to her left with distrust.

"Andromeda." Dumbledore replied with more warmth.

"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting. My client," she gestured to Sirius, "is here on his own accord to clear his good name."

Madam Bones scoffed, but Dumbledore eyed them curiously.

"That is quite the proclamation, Andromeda."

She frowned, not entirely comfortable with the familiarity.

"On the contrary Albus, Sirius Black has suffered a great injustice. I intend for Sirius Black to leave the meeting with an apology, as a free man."

She ignored a comment of doubt from Bones and continued. "My client has agreed to be questioned under veritaserum; you may ask him any question you like. Additionally, we would like to use your pensieve to show you both several memories that prove my client is innocent of any accused crimes."

"Very well." Bones replied. "Let's get this over with."

So, she showed them, going through her well-practiced narration of her cousin's story.

An hour later Amelia Bones and Albus Dumbledore had wrapped up their interrogation of Sirius.

"Your client does appear to be innocent, Andromeda." Amelia Bones spoke up, much more civil than earlier.

"I will call for a trial for early next year."

She smiled. "That will be unnecessary, Amelia."

The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement gave her a questioning look, but one look at Dumbledore told her that he understood.

"Am I correct to believe, Sirius, that you were held under the Parkinson Amendment?" Dumbledore spoke up, addressing Sirius for the first time.

"Yes, headmaster." Sirius croaked out, still not used to speaking.

"Sirius Black was never charged with a crime, Madam Bones." Andromeda smiled triumphantly. "All I need you to do is call off the auror's and issue a proclamation of innocence and my client is a free man."

"Fudge will never go for this!" Amelia sputtered. "You and I both know that. The man won't do anything to jeopardize his image."

"Call him in here, Amelia, we have prepared for this."

After the initial outburst, Cornelius Fudge had stormed out of the office, returning five minutes later with a half dozen auror's, demanding Sirius be kissed on sight.

"You will sit down, Cornelius." Dumbledore commanded calmly from the front of the room, hitting the Minister of Magic with a silencing charm.

Another hour later and Fudge looked at her, a resigned look on his face.

"What will you have me do, Andromeda?" The Minister got out. "I agree that this is a great injustice, but the panic this would cause. That would look terrible!"

"Not if we do it right, Minister." Her plan was exceptionally simple, and she had no doubt it would work. "At the time of Sirius Black's arrest, I believe it was Barty Crouch who was in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement - you were still in charge of the Department of International Cooperation, if memory serves me."

The bald man rubbed his chin in thought. "Yes, it was Crouch who signed off on anything to do incarceration." He said aloud.

She smiled; "with Minister Bagnold's approval, of course."

"Yes, I had nothing to do with this injustice."

Her smile broadened. "If anything, Minister, you're righting the wrongs committed by a corrupt ministry against a war hero."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Chief Warlock beam.

"Delores! I want you to schedule a press conference for tomorrow night. It's time this administration rights the wrongs of its predecessors."

Sirius Black Cleared of All Charges!

Was the Prophets headline, as Harry numbly read the article.

"" Lord Black, accompanied by his Barrister, Andromeda Tonks, turned himself into the custody of Amelia Bones and Albus Dumbledore for questioning late last week." Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic said at a press conference Monday evening. "Upon questioning, a grave unjust was discovered by Amelia Bones, my administration's head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, perpetuated by the Bagnold Administration."

Sources tell the Prophet that Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black, betrayed the Potter's to the Dark Lord. The same sources disclosed that it was Pettigrew, not Black, who killed 12 muggles and escaped. It is presumed that Pettigrew is still at large…."

Harry read the rest of the article in silence, as a whirlwind of emotions threatened to escape him.

Doubt. That the article could be accurate.

That doubt gave way to distrust towards his godfather. Even if the story was true, why didn't his father's best friend insist on being their "secret keeper."

That finally gave way to the anger he felt towards the ministry for allowing his innocent godfather to suffer in jail for a decade.

Setting the article down, he turned his attention to the owl that had landed next to him. Grabbing the letter, he unrolled the parchment.

The tidy, cursive letter was from his godfather. He was coming to Hogwarts to spend Christmas with him.

Setting the letter down, Harry nervously composed a response before turning to leave the great hall. Hedwig had a letter to deliver.

Albus Dumbledore pushed his was through a set of creaking silver gates as the falling snow covered the walk-in front of him.

He was visiting an old acquaintance of his who had run into a young Tom Riddle years ago at Borgin and Burkes.

Knocking softly on the door, he was greeted a minute later by a barmy old witch with thin white hair.

"Albus!" Hepzibah Smith greeted him. "It's been so long."

"That it has, Hepzibah." He smiled gently, pressing his lips softly to her knuckles.

"Please, come in."

"Lunky!" The elderly lady screeched as he grimaced; "bring us tea to the study."

Albus followed the slightly younger lady into an extravagant study painted in a rich maroon, with gold furnishings.

All around them were shelves, filled with various artifacts, and knick-knacks, all collected by the Smith family through the centuries.

"I heard my great-grandson is enjoying his second year." Hepzibah commented as she took a sip of Earl Grey.

He nodded; "Zacharias is an impressive quidditch player."

The lady smiled. "He takes after my oldest son, that one does. Never could keep him off a broom either."

"What can I do for you, Albus. I know you didn't come here to talk about Zacharias."

Albus was happy to dispense with the chit-chat and decided to cut right to the chase.

He had spent the last several months writing down, and re-examining everything he knew about Tom Riddle. The man held Hogwarts in high-esteem and knowing that he had used one of Rowena's heirlooms as a horcrux, he shifted his focus to other significant items belonging to the founders.

His research had led him to Helena Hufflepuff's legendary cup, said to have some healing powers.

The Smith family were Hufflepuffs descendants, and Hepzibah was found of rare artifacts. It was entirely possible she had run into a young Tom Riddle and bragged about her family's prized possession.

"Hepzibah, do you still frequent Borgin and Burkes?"

The witch eyed him questionably; "I know you're feeling on the shop, Albus; but they have connections that hold importance to me."

He smiled at her reassuringly; "I'm not judging you, Hepzibah. I was just curious."

Taking a sip of tea, he continued. "I was just wondering if you ever told anyone at that store about your families cup."

The slight, white-haired witch just gave him a frown. "What cup are you talking about, Albus. My family has lots of cups." At that she gestured at several jewel-encrusted goblets on a shelf behind her.

He frowned; 'there is only one cup in this family.'

"Forgive me Hepzibah, I was under the impression that your family had an heirloom from Helga Hufflepuff."

The old witch gave him a confused look and laughed. "I believe you've finally lost it, my friend." Offering him a smile.

He returned her smile.

' Tom stole it from her, after all.' He thought to himself as he left a half hour later.